Central to the story of biochar is Amazoinian Terra preta, fertile anthropogenic (meaning human made) dark earths in Amazonia that were enriched with char more than 8000 years ago. 1 Terra preta is the result of char and  household waste (bone, broken pottery, compost and manure) mixed into the native soil, Oxisol, which transformed this otherwise low fertility soil into a more productive soil. But is Terra preta, ancient carbon rich soil only found in the Amazon basin?